Qualifications – New Zealand and France in the lead

For the 5th round of the season, New Zealander Johnny Reid and Frenchman Loic Duval secured the pole positions for the Sprint and Endurance races, respectively.

The weather conditions have not changed much since this morning. The wind is still very present, leaving slippery traces of dust on the track, causing a few exits.

Reminder: The qualifications take place in 4 parts of 15 minutes each.

During the first two, the best time from each nation is recorded, which then determines the starting grid positions for the “Sprint” race (no. 1).

During the last two qualifying sessions, the best time of each nation across the two sessions determines its position in the “endurance” race (No.2).

Qualification 1 – Sprint – Taupo

The A1 Team New Zealand sets the fastest time in both sessions. Johnny Reid will therefore start in pole position at home, in front of his fans.

He outpaced, and it’s a surprise, Adrian Zaugg for South Africa, despite his struggles since the beginning of the weekend, while the Frenchman Loic Duval achieved the third-best performance.

Impressive yet since the start of the 2007-2008 season, Swiss driver Neel Jani is not in the top 10, just like Robbie Kerr for Great Britain.

Qualification 2 – Endurance – Taupo

France secured its first pole position of the season in this session. Loic Duval narrowly edged out German driver Vietoris by just 35 thousandths, but gained a significant advantage for tomorrow’s 70-minute race.

With a revised fuel called BIOFUEL, the 22 drivers are within just 2.8, but the top 10 do even better with only 6 tenths of a second apart.

The Swiss Neel Jani managed to return to the top 10. He even places on the provisional podium while Canada and New Zealand, at home, complete the top 5.

Narain Karthikeyan, former Formula 1 driver, is far behind in 18th place. The Indian disappoints this weekend after securing a historic victory in China a month ago. Thomas Enge also disappoints. The Czech has not managed to do better than 15th position since the start of the weekend.